Weeding the Garden of Eden

Told with wit, and through touching human stories, readers enter the richness of a pastor's life and experience the wondrous variety of souls present in the congregations he served.
"Hello, David, this is Carl at the funeral home.
Kansas City Babe has died."
"Who's Kansas City Babe, Carl?"
"Well, I'm glad you didn't know her. Back in the oil boom days she ran the biggest brothel in the county. Would you do her service?"

Weeding the Garden of Eden is a United Methodist minister's journey from childhood days through college, seminary and sixty years as pastor, teacher and church leader.

Dr. David L. Severe was born in Perry, Oklahoma in 1934, and attended Oklahoma A&M College, graduating from Oklahoma City University. He earned the Master of Divinity degree from Southern Methodist University, Perkins School of Theology in 1959, and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from OCU in 1982.

He retired from full-time ministry in 2005 and became the Executive Director of the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church, an eight-state area, retiring at the age of 81.

He and his wife Paula live in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They have two children, four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

David is co-author of the book 40-The History of the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church.